Nas Strolls Down ‘Memory Lane’ With ‘Illmatic’ Reissue, Documentary

'Illmatic XX' drops April 15, 'Time Is Illmatic' doc due sometime in 2014

Nas’ Illmatic turns 20 this year, and to celebrate his landmark debut leaving “the essence of adolescence,” the Queens rapper is reissuing the album in a double-disc anniversary edition. Dubbed Illmatic XX, the upcoming re-release is out April 15 through Sony Legacy, and promises a collection of rare remixes and unreleased demos and freestyles. The LP’s 10 original tracks, meanwhile, have been remastered for their milestone birthday. (If it feels as if Illmatic just received the reissue treatment, that’s because it did: In December 2012, Get On Down put out a different deluxe version of Illmatic, featuring a 48-page photo book, full lyric insert, and more.)

Nasty Nas is also planning to tour the U.S., performing Illmatic in full. Details are forthcoming, but the 40-year-old hip-hop legend is already booked to play the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

Also in the works: a new documentary about Illmatic. The feature-length flick, titled Time Is Illmatic, comes from first-time filmmakers One9 (director/producer) and Erik Parker (writer/producer) and is expected to be released in 2014. According to a press release, the movie will examine the making of Nas’ first LP (a record SPIN has crowned one of the “three or four best hip-hop albums of all time”), the social conditions that informed Nas’ artistic vision, and the musical legacy that he inherited from his father, jazz great Olu Dara.

Scroll down for the full track list to Illmatic XX, head over to iTunes to pre-order the set, and stream “It Ain’t Hard to Tell (the Stink Mix)” at Rap Genius.